The man who organized and set in motion the killing of rapper Tupac Shakur learned his fate Tuesday, 30 years after the deadly shooting near the Strip.

Duane Davis was sentenced to between 40 years and life in prison for the 1996 murder of Shakur.

Shakur was shot Sept. 7, 1996, at Flamingo Road and Koval Lane. He died six days later at University Medical Center.

It wasn’t until 2023 that police arrested Davis, now 63, outside his house in Henderson. At the time, he described the killing to police as “the biggest case in Las Vegas history.”

Physical evidence was scarce, and much of the case consisted of Davis’ already publicized words in statements to the media and law enforcement about his involvement in the killing, including an admission in a memoir he has since disputed writing that he supplied the gun.

“You don’t get to take a man from his family; you don’t get to take his very life, his whole future from him and just walk away from it, especially when that man is Tupac Shakur,” District Judge Carli Kierny said to Davis, who shook his head as she announced the sentence. “The world never forgot about him and his death, and neither did Las Vegas. Took us 30 years, but at this time, you are going to face justice for what you did on Sept. 7, 1996.”

Before the judge sentenced Davis, siblings of Shakur spoke about their loss.

Sekyiwa Shakur cried as she told the judge what she missed about her brother, such as his “sloppy,” full laugh and his recipe for barbecued chicken.

She described him as a person who protected and provided for others, someone who had the potential to change the world.

“He was a wonderful human being,” she said.

Maurice “Mopreme” Shakur said the murder of his brother has had a devastating impact.

Tupac Shakur did not get the chance to have children or see his nieces and nephews grow up.

“All Pac got was a death sentence,” he told the judge.

Davis offered no apology or remorse.

He asked for the return of items seized by law enforcement during a search of his house and said, “I’m going to appeal this case for sure.”

His son, Duane Davis Jr., complained after the sentencing that his father had been treated unfairly.

“My dad is a good dad,” he said.

The trial in August attracted a swarm of international media that covered it breathlessly and exhaustively, although there were few revelations.

Defense attorney Michael Sanft questioned his client’s credibility, but jurors found Davis guilty of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon after only about three hours of deliberations.

Authorities alleged that Davis was the “shot-caller” who conceived the plan to exact revenge on Tupac Shakur and Death Row Records CEO Marion “Suge” Knight in retaliation for an attack by Shakur and his entourage against Davis’ nephew, Orlando Anderson, earlier that night at the MGM Grand.

Prosecutors said Knight was grazed in the head in the shooting. Knight was driving the BMW in which Tupac Shakur was a passenger.

According to prosecutors, the Bloods-associated Mob Piru gang had ties to Death Row Records, and the South Side Crips — of which prosecutors say Davis was a leader — were associated with Bad Boy Records, a label owned by Sean “Diddy” Combs.

“Duane Davis did not pull the trigger, but what he did do is plan the retaliation for the beating of his nephew,” Chief Deputy District Attorney Binu Palal told jurors.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Marc DiGiacomo said Tuesday that Davis is almost guaranteed to die in prison.

Davis’ case was unique, because he inflicted “continued punishment” on the Shakur family by “publicly grandstanding” about Tupac Shakur’s death between 2018 and 2023, trying to profit off of a killing he committed, the prosecutor argued.

DiGiacomo noted Davis’ record as a felon, eight times over, and the head of a violent street gang.

The killing of Tupac Shakur led to other violence in Compton, California, and “the death of another rapper,” he said.

Former Metropolitan Police Department homicide Detective Clifford Mogg testified previously that the killing of Tupac Shakur was related to the slaying of rapper Christopher “The Notorious B.I.G.” Wallace, who was fatally shot in 1997.

Sanft said law enforcement did not act on information about Tupac Shakur’s death for several years before Davis was charged, despite knowing about Davis’ statements.

DiGiacomo said after court that prosecutors did not have legally admissible evidence until Davis wrote his 2019 book, “Compton Street Legend.” He indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic slowed the case down but said prosecutors brought charges as soon as they could.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com.